Residential and commercial boilers, water heater, and the like 1, FIG. 1, typically include a pressure regulator 12 that regulates or controls the pressure of the water entering the boiler 1 and/or a pressure relief valve 4 that regulates or controls the maximum operating pressure. For safety reasons, boilers 1 generally operate in a pressure range of approximately 12–15 psi while water heaters and the like 1 typically operate at approximately between 15–150 psi.
It is often necessary to add water to the boiler 1. For example, during routine maintenance, it is often necessary to drain the boiler 1 using the drain valve 2 in order to relieve the pressure within the boiler 1 as well as to remove the heated water within the boiler 1. Additionally, water must often be added due to leakage, evaporation, normal operation, and other causes.
Pressure regulators 12 are typically located proximate a boiler 1 on the inlet water line 3. The pressure regulator 12 controls the amount of water/pressure within the boiler 1 by automatically adding water in the event the pressure within the boiler 1 drops below a predetermined threshold (typically approximately 12 psi). The pressure relief valve 4 serves to prevent the pressure within the boiler 1 from exceeding the maximum allowable operating pressure.
The incoming water, typically coming from the main water line located in the street, is often at a pressure significantly higher (typically in the range of approximately 20–80 psi than the 12–15 psi range that the boiler 1 operates in. The pressure regulator 12, (FIG. 2A) includes a pressure device 14 that monitors the pressure within the boiler line 5 (which is equivalent to the pressure within the boiler 1). If the pressure in the boiler line 5/boiler 1 drops below the threshold value, the valve 20 is slowly opened to allow water from the inlet water line 3 to pass through the inlet 22 of the pressure regulator 12, through the outlet 24 of the pressure regulator 12 and into the boiler line 5 where it ultimately enters the boiler 1.
Most known pressure regulators 12 include a pressure device 14 comprising a spring 16 and a diaphragm 18. The spring 18 biases against the diaphragm 18 urging the valve 20 open. The pressure within the outlet 24 acts against the diaphragm 18, urging the valve 20 closed. When the pressure within the outlet 24 is above the threshold value, the outlet pressure 24 is greater than the pressure generated by the spring 18, and the valve 20 remains closed. However, when the outlet pressure 24 drops below the threshold value, spring force 18 begins to open the valve 20, thus allowing water to pass through the pressure regulator 12 and into the boiler 1.
As discussed above, water heaters and the like 1 include relief valves 4, FIG. 2B, which regulate or control the maximum pressure within the water heater 1. The relief valve 4 includes an inlet 22, an outlet 24, and a valve 20 that is typically biased in the closed position using with a spring 16 opening against a diaphragm 18 or the like. If the pressure or temperature within the water heater 1 exceeds a maximum threshold, the biasing force of the spring 16 is overcome and the relief valve 4 opens to relief the pressure and prevent explosion/damage.
It is important to note, however, that the valves 20 of the known pressure regulators 12 and the known relief valves 4 open in direct relationship to the pressure differential between the outlet pressure 24/inlet pressure 22 and the spring pressure 18 respectively. The larger the pressure differential (i.e., the lower the outlet pressure 24 compared to the spring pressure 16 in the case of the pressure regulator 12 and the higher the inlet pressure 22 compared to the spring pressure 16 in the case of the relief valve 4), the more the valve 20 opens.
In the case of the known pressure regulators 12, this arrangement allows water from the high-pressure main water line 3 to slowly enter the boiler 1. Unfortunately, it significantly increases the time it takes to fill the boiler 1, particularly when the boiler 1 is empty. As the outlet pressure 24 begins to reach the threshold value (i.e., 12 psi), the valve 20 is gradually closed. As a result, the flow rate of the water entering the boiler 1 is gradually decreased, and the time to fill the boiler 1 is significantly increased. This is particularly a problem when the boiler 1 has been emptied (for example if a new boiler 1 is being installed or the boiler 1 has been drained for maintenance reasons). Yet another problem is that that it is often necessary to fill boiler 1 with water to a pressure above the minimum threshold value of the pressure regulator 12 in order to purge any entrapped air from the boiler 1 as well as the pipes.
To overcome this problem, a pressure regulator override lever 15 is typically installed on the pressure regulator 12. The pressure regulator override lever 15 typically includes a lever 17 and a rod 19. The rod 19 is connected to the lever 17 and the diaphragm 18. When the lever 17 is moved in the direction of arrow A, the lever 19 is forced downward which thereby moves the diaphragm 18 downward. This effectively overrides the outlet pressure 24, thereby fully opening the valve 20 and allowing the water from the main water line 3 to enter the boiler 1 at a much higher rate, thus filling the boiler 1 in a much shorter amount of time.
Unfortunately, this arrangement suffers from several problems. One problem is that the valve 20 will remain fully open at all times until the operator manually closes the valve 20. Because the main water line 3 has a pressure typically between 20–80 psi, if the valve 20 is not shut, water will enter the boiler 1 until the boiler 1 reaches in excess of approximately 30 psi. However, the pressure relief valve 4 will open at approximately 30 psi (the typical maximum operating pressure for the boiler 1). As a result, high-pressure water and/or boiling water will be suddenly released from the pressure relief valve 4. Not only will the high-pressure water damage property and create a mess as the exits the relief valve 4, it can also cause severe injury (such as severe burning) to people near the boiler 1, especially if someone is near the relief valve 4 when it opens. Moreover, if the pressure relief valve 4 malfunctions or is inadequate to handle the flow rate of the water entering the boiler 1, the boiler 1 could also be damaged and could even possibly explode.
While it is possible to manually close the pressure regulator override lever 15 prior to the relief valve 4 opening, this is often very difficult because the pressure gauge 6 is typically located far away from the pressure regulator override lever 15 and is difficult to observe. Moreover, it is common for the person working on the boiler 1 to forget that the boiler 1 is filling, and thus forget to close the pressure regulator override lever 15.
In the case of the known relief valves 4, the gradual opening of the relief valve 4 also suffers from several problems. In the event of a large, rapid pressure spike, the relief valve 4 may not open sufficiently fast enough to relief the pressure. This could ultimately result in damage to the water heater/boiler 1. Accordingly, the known relief valves 4 must be large in order to relief or discharge enough BTUs or steam capacity/volume.
Accordingly, what is needed is a device that is capable of quickly filling the boiler, water heater, or the like and/or quickly relieving pressure. According to one embodiment, the device should fully open the valve until the outlet pressure reaches a predetermined maximum value (which is preferably set below the maximum pressure of the pressure relief valve) upon which pressure regulator valve should immediately close. According to another embodiment, the device should fully open the valve once the pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold. The device should also be capable of being retrofitted to existing pressure regulators or relief valves without extensive modification. Additionally, the device should be capable of relieving or discharging a larger amount of BTUs, steam capacity/volume, or the like compared to the known valves.